The Futility of Miracles

The Futility of Miracles

By Paigham Mustafa

Desperate people are always looking for magical cures and divine interventions to ease their pain and suffering. The allure of an easy route to relief, success, or salvation remains irresistible. As Adolf Hitler once observed, “The broad mass of a nation will more easily fall for a big lie than a small one.” Nowhere is this more evident than in the religious marketplace, where countless sects and denominations offer their own formulas, from prayers to pilgrimages, for salvation — each promising a free ticket to paradise, each drawing followers eagerly seeking favour, escape from responsibility and ultimate accountability.

Across the centuries, this cycle has repeated itself. Old religions fracture, new ones arise, and each claims exclusive access to truth — often backed by miracles, visions, or mathematical “proofs” of divine endorsement. The last century was no exception, producing its own prophets and their ever-ingenious doctrines.

Among the more curious of these modern claimants was Dr Rashad Khalifa, an Egyptian biochemist who emigrated to the United States and sought to reconcile scientific rigour with divine revelation. When he first published his English translation of the Quran, it was praised for its clarity, modern phrasing, and accessible style. It seemed, at first, like a sincere effort to render the Quran’s meaning in a contemporary idiom, emphasising its core message — the Oneness of God and devotion to Him alone.

Alongside this translation, Khalifa introduced a striking theory: that the Quran contained a hidden numerical structure based on the number nineteen, which he presented as proof of its divine origin. Many were impressed by this “code 19”; it appeared as the long-sought bridge between science and faith — a miracle embedded in mathematics. But what began as scholarship soon spiralled into a self-serving mission.

By the time Khalifa released his revised edition, the tone had changed dramatically. The text was no longer simply an interpretation; it was a proclamation. He now claimed to be the “Messenger of the Covenant”, chosen by God to purify and confirm the Quran. Prophets, he said, brought revelation, but messengers reaffirmed it — and he was the latter. This was no modest claim.

Yet the claim collapsed under its own contradictions. In his revised edition, Khalifa excised two verses — 9:128 and 9:129 — asserting they were later additions inserted by scribes “to honour the Prophet Muhammad”. He argued that removing them restored the Quran to its original purity. But the Quran itself declares: “We have revealed this consummate reminder and absolutely We will preserve it.” (15:9). And “No falsehood could enter it in the past and no falsehood can enter it in the future; a revealed guidance from the One Most Wise, the One most worthy of all praise.” (41:42).

To assert otherwise is to imply that God’s word was corrupted almost immediately after its revelation — a conclusion that would render the Quran’s own assurance meaningless.

The Quran describes its early scribes as “honourable and righteous” (80:15–16). To accuse them of fabrication is not only historically indefensible but logically absurd. Even worse, Khalifa’s own mathematics failed to support his claims. His calculations of the word “God” across the text, the very foundation of his “divine code”, changed between editions without explanation. A supposed miracle of numerical precision fell apart under basic arithmetic.

His intellectual inconsistencies mirrored his personal ones. Having (correctly) dismissed Muhammad’s night journey (al-Isra’ wa al-Mi‘raj) as a “fabrication”, Khalifa later claimed to have had a celestial journey of his own, in which he met all previous messengers and recognised himself in Abraham. Such self-referential mysticism was at odds with the empirical rationalism he once championed.

The transformation from translator to self-proclaimed messenger marked the unraveling of a once-promising project. His later writings became increasingly dogmatic, introducing unsupportable doctrines — such as the claim that anyone dying before the age of forty automatically enters heaven — and diluting the accountability decrees of the Quran itself.

After Khalifa’s assassination in 1990, his followers in Tucson, Arizona, continued to elevate him, forming a sect now known as the “Submitters”. They describe his death in messianic language, claiming his soul was “raised” before his murder. Their publications, such as Submitters Perspective, perpetuated new “revelations”, ignoring the Quran’s warning: “Who is more evil than one who fabricates lies and attributes them to God or says, "I have received divine inspiration," when no such inspiration was given to him or says, "I can divulge the same as God's revelations?” (6:93).

The most telling symbol of Khalifa’s fall is found in his manipulation of Sura 36:3. In his earlier translation, it read: “You (Muhammad) are one of the messengers.” In the later edition, it became: “You (Rashad) are one of the messengers.” To rewrite divine scripture to include oneself is not purification — it is distortion.

And yet, Khalifa’s story is not one of villainy so much as of tragic hubris. His early work, exploring the mathematical elegance of the Quran, was intellectually daring and prompted many to re-engage with the text in a spirit of inquiry. But in claiming divine authority, he undermined his own integrity and transformed a fascinating hypothesis into a cautionary tale. What began as an attempt to prove the Quran’s perfection ended in its alteration.

The futility of seeking miracles — whether numerical, supernatural, or self-proclaimed — lies precisely in this: they divert belief from its essence. The Quran itself makes this clear. When Muhammad was asked to perform miracles to convince sceptics, he simply replied that he was no more than a human messenger (17:88–93). The Quran’s uniqueness, this implied, was a miracle enough.

To those who understand the Quran not as a book of religion or magic but as a dynamic guide for establishing balanced socio-economic system — the Deen-Islam — its profundity requires no embellishment. The true miracle lies not in hidden codes or supernatural events but in the coherence of its message and its power to transform societies through reason, logic and disciplined good conduct.

As the Quran states (6:50), Muhammad could not foretell the future. He was not a prophet but a messenger entrusted with imparting guidance. That guidance is pragmatic, not mystical. It calls on humanity to act, not to dream. Those who grasp this will not look for miracles to validate their belief and conviction, but will work to make this world — through knowledge, justice and humanity — a place worthy of heaven.

The Deen-Islam, when understood through rigorous linguistic and compelling analysis — such as in the Quran NME, an authoritative, consistent and accurate exposition — demonstrates that the Quran’s strength lies not in the irrational or the miraculous but in its rational depth. Proof is not in mathematical contrivances or esoteric codes but in verifiable meaning, structure, and purpose.

Miracles, as history shows, promise certainty but deliver disappointment and misery. Everything happens by God’s ordinance, not magic. Belief that depends on spectacle becomes fragile. The Quran endures not because of miracles but because it dispels the need for them.

© 2026 Paigham Mustafa

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paigham Mustafa has been engaged in the study and research of the Quran since 1988 and has contributed to the print media for over 37 years. His first major work, The Quran: God’s Message to Mankind, was published in 2016, followed by The Divine Blueprint in 2022. He is also the author of How To Be Human, published in 2025. His exegesis of the Quran often challenges traditional readings, offering instead a reasoned and objective analysis of the original text. His works provide essential guidance,  helping readers gain a clearer, more informed understanding of Islam. This helps address many of the issues that stem from misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and misconceptions

The Quran NME

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